1. Field of the Invention:
The present invention relates to merchandising display walls and more particularly to a construction known generally as slot-wall. This invention relates to the manner of constructing such slot-walls and the composition of the materials used in that construction.
During the decade of the 1980's retail stores in the United States embraced slot-wall merchandising techniques in such numbers that it is now difficult to find a recent installation which does not employ it in some fashion. The slot-wall technique is utilized in both self-service and over-the-counter merchandising. A successor to "peg-board", the new merchandising panel is considered far more attractive while remaining as practical and serviceable.
2. Description of the Prior Art:
By far the most widely used material for the manufacture of slot-wall is medium density fiber-board (MDF). U.S. Pat. Nos. to Amstutz, et al No. 4,591,058 and Johnstonbaugh No. 4,615,448 disclose well known examples of fiber-board and particle-board construction.
Usually, panels measuring 4 feet wide and 8 feet long and 3/4 of an inch thick are utilized. Parallel channels are milled or routed straight across one dimension (usually the 8 foot dimension) and are spaced on equal centers over the surface. The routed channels or "slots" form the female receptacle for display accessories or brackets having cooperating male appendages. The slots are uniformly sized throughout the industry and can readily be reinforced by form-fitting inserts extruded from plastic or aluminum should increased load-bearing capacity be required by the end user. Because of the brittleness of fiber-board and particle board, the use of extruded plastic inserts has become more the rule than the exception. The panels come paint-ready, but, usually are faced with a decorative plastic laminate. When positioned vertically or stacked, they convert immediately into a display wall. Attractive and efficient slot-wall plays host to an endless array of accessories, brackets and hangers designed to display anything a merchant might require.
In spite of its wide spread usage, fiber-board slot-wall is nevertheless much criticized. It is heavy and it is fragile, given the stresses to which it is inevitably subjected. Those familiar with the product are aware that, by its nature, the fiber-board is extremely brittle and rigid. A single panel usually weighs approximately 85 pounds and, coupled with its large ungainly size, the panel is difficult to handle. Since the panels are milled to be stackable (a major selling point), the panels have half-slots on each longitudinal edge necessitating minimum thickness of material precisely where one would want the maximum thickness in order to absorb impact from handling. Further, if picked up carelessly a panel can even fail under the stress of its own weight along the routed slots since it has no bending strength
Thus, great pains must be taken during handling and shipping of the product. Crating must be extensive, freight costs are staggering and damage claims and work stoppages are common place throughout the industry. To add to the problem, when slot strength is in question, the cost of channel reinforcements is substantial given the linear footage required to fill the slots in each panel. Other attempts at slot-wall construction have met with similar problems or have been too expensive or complex to gain general acceptance. The U.S. Pat. No. to Breakey, No. 4,572,381 for instance discloses a type of slot-wall utilizing plywood paneling. A base board and face panel are laminated and then grooves precision cut in the facing panel. The U.S. Patent No. to Radek, No. 4,607,753 shows still another type of slot-wall utilizing sheet metal or sheet plastic. In this regard, attempts to develop sheet or "board" plastics as a core material have included extruded closed cell polyvinyl chloride (PVC) foam. This construction, of course, results in not only a more complex system but is extremely expensive to manufacture and assemble and hence has not received wide acceptance in the industry. The cost of extruded PVC, for instance, is prohibitive for most users.
Another problem common to the use of fiber-board or other moisture permeable wood product for constructing the slot-wall, is that of warpage. In most circumstances where a panel is subjected to a different ambient moisture content on its opposed faces warpage will occur. When one face is painted or laminated an unbalanced moisture exposure is created. This problem is heightened by the fact that, after being milled, the cross-section is irregular with relatively thin-walled longitudinal areas. If left freestanding for any period of time, in fact, warpage will inevitably occur.